Cord



E. E. STRAWN Sept. 4, 1934.

CORD

Filed Oct. 7,

I IHI INVENTOR E/PV/N STR/IW/V A TTORNEYS WITNESS Patented; Sept. 4, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:

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Application October 7, 1932, Serial No. 636,659

10 Claims.

The invention relates to cords composed of twisted paper strips and the object of the invention is to produce a product of this character of great strength, toughness, and resistance against deterioration by moisture.

It has heretofore been customary to make rugs, furniture, baskets, or similar articles of a material known as fibre-cord. Fibre cord is produced by introducing to a machine such as the one known as a Watson twisting machine, moistened (not soaked) narrow strips of paper. The machine twists the strips together and winds the product on a large spool from which twisted fibre cord is subsequently re-wound in suitable lengths for delivery to the customer. The paper used for such strips is ordinary kraft paper, sized with glue sizing. After the fibre cord is made up into a product or article, it is necessary to treat the product with glue or sizing, to spray on color, and to shellac, lacquer or varnish. Notwithstanding these precautions, such products, when exposed to moisture or weather, as in the case of rugs for porches or ships, porch curtains, lawn furniture, ship furniture, etc., deteriorate rapidly and, of course, in handicraft work, public school work and the like, the necessity for the supplemental treatments, such as coloring, varnishing, or lacquering, after the article has been structurally completed, proves to be a serious 30 impediment.

' It is the object of the present invention to produce a twisted paper cord which will be free of the defects referred to, which will require no ap plication of sizing, varnish, or lacquer to protect 35 it from water or weather, which will be itself colored in any desired shades, and which will enable manufacturers and pupils in craft schools to have the articles which they make available for instant service and use.

Underlying the present invention is the conception of a twisted cord, the material of which shall consist of parchmentized vegetable fibres, i. e. shall consist of the ordinary kraft or other porous fibrous typeof paper treated for parch- 4 5 mentization of the fibres. In attempting to manufacture such a product, a difficulty was encountered in that the narrow strips of vegetable parchment paper, when introduced to the twisting machineand moistened in the same way that kraft paper strips were moistened, proved to be too stiff, constantly tearing and breaking. Ordinary kraft paper strips, if soaked in water, tend to return to the pulp condition and it has therefore become an axiom of the twisted paper industry that the paper must not be twisted out of water but must merely be moistened sufliciently to soften. I have now found, however, that in the case of vegetable parchment strips, it is essential that the strip be introduced into the twisting machine directly out of water, i. e., that the parchment strip must be thoroughly saturated with water, as far as it will take up water, as it enters the twisting machine. This soaked condition in the'case of vegetable parchment still leaves the strip sufficient strength to pass I through the twisting machine but, on the other hand, it renders the paper so pliable that it will readily follow and adapt itself to the mechanical treatments of the twisting machine, conforming itself to the shape and conditions observable in the kraft fibre cord. The necessity for this soaking operation in the case of vegetable parchment makes it possible to use the bath within which the soaking takes place as a means for imparting any desired color to the strip or to the several strips which make up the cord. For this purpose any suitable color, such as'beater colors, may be used, the colored water then serving both for wetting the paper and also for imparting the desired tint. It is, of course, necessary to place sufficient color in the solution to obtain the desired color condition in the final product.

The parchmentizing process, in itself well known, is one in which, in one type of such processes, paper sheets are drawn through sulphuric acid, followed by neutralization or washing out of the adhering acid. As a result of this treatment, the fibres become hydrolized and are transformed into a waterproof horny substance (hydro-cellulose) resembling parchment and being relatively non-fibrous. I have found that due to this fact, i. e., that the vegetable parchment has a waterproof hydro-cellulose surface the watersoaking process which I employ as a preliminary to the twisting of the parchment paper into cord shape, is more in the nature of a polishing process than of a disintegrating process. Ordinarily where mere fibrous material is used as in the case of ordinary fibre cord, the fibres are raised in use and soon leave the article so that it rapidly acquires the appearance and condition of being worn out. This was one of the reasons why, in the use of ordinary fibre cord the articles made therefrom hadto be coated with glue,'varnish, shellac, or the like before the article wasput into use, as otherwise it would not hiave been at all satisfactory. In the case of articles made of' vegetable parchment cord, due to the peculiar nature and condition of the parchmentized paper and the polishing effect which follows from thoroughly wetting it before introducing it to the twisting machine, there is no necessity, after making an article from such cord, to add color, glue, sizing, lacquer, etc., butthe article can be put into service at once. For many uses, it is especially desirable that the article can be used immediately, particularly in craft schools, public schools, and similar organizations.

An additional advantage of the present invention is thatit supplies a means for utilizing certain waste products of the parchmentized vege table paper art. For example, the parchmentizing factory collects its product on large, wide rolls and then trims off the ends, the trimmed roll representing the commercial product. The end trims, however, are useless for all ordinary purposes as the paper cannot be repulped and the width of the end trims is of constantly varying character, usually from one-quarter to one inch. As a result of my invention, these end trims can be taken just as they are, immersed in water, the free end introduced to the twisting machine, and a perfect cord product be produced. In such a cord product, it is not necessary that the paper strip be of continuously uniform width, though, of course, such a condition obtains generally when a roll of parchmentized paper is cut into a series of narrow rolls for use in the manufacture of my new cord. The vegetable parchment art also supplies its product in relatively large volume for use as tympan paper for printing presses. When such tympan paper has outworn its usefulness, its surface is thoroughly smudged with printers ink and its body is not readily destructible by fire, so that it has become quite a. problem what to do with the outworn tympans. I have found that if they are cut into narrow rolls, immersed in water, and then passed through the twisting machine, an attractive cord will .be

produced, the coloring matter of the ink, imparting a tint which is harmonious with relation to the many articles ,made of such cord, such as or difliculties of any character are encountered.

The regular standard procedure is followed throughout both in the parchmentizing process and in the twisting machine. A tank or a series of tanks, filled with water, colored if and when desired, may be placed in advance of the twisting machine and rolls of parchment strip placed in the solution. Solutions of different colors may be used in the several tanks or one or all of the strips may be colored initially, as in' the case of tympan paper. The narrow rolls may stand up in the solution or lie flat. For certain purposes it is desirable to totally immerse the roll to be unwound but at other times it is more desirable to just float the roll. The relation between the specific gravity of the rolls and water is so close as to admit of a control of-the density of the solution by the addition of chemical substances non-injurious to the operation to cause the roll either to remain submerged or floated at the option of the operator. In either case the buoyancy of the water serves as it were as a bearing,

the round discs of strip turning with very little friction. The water furthermore preserves the roll form of the strip until the end unwinds naturally while the disc keeps turning in the water without requiring any support or axle.

The invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away and in section, of thefeeding and twisting apparatus; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the compieted cord and Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing there is shown for illustrative purposes a partitioned water tank in the lower compartment of which is a roll of the vegetable .parchment strip in an upright position. In the upper compartment the roll lies flat. The paper from these two rolls, after passing over the rounded edge of the tank, come together in the throat block of the twisting machine, slide along the surface thereof and are then twisted and drawn forward by the twisting machine proper. In the drawing, the water tank is indicated as A, the partition as,B, the rolls of paper as C and C, and the throat block as D. The paper, as it is twisted, passes through the tube E. F is part of the frame'of the twisting machine and F stands diagrammatically for the twisting and winding instrumentalities of the twisting machine. The arrangement shown in the drawing is particularly advantageous when several rolls of paper, varying in diameter or width, are used and the paper is to be fed to the throat block D at the same point in. superposed relation. The paper may, however, be fed to the block D from two tanks located side by side, the

paper from the several rolls in that case entering the throat at different points but gneeting within the throat block. When two separate tanks are used, one may contain color and the other water only, or both may contain color. In either event no extra labor will be involved in'connection with the coloring of the paper.

The parchment paper webs or strips which are fed from the tank to the twisting machine are not wet in the same sense that ordinary paper becomes wet, i. e., fiber sdaked and without cohesive strength to resist even slight pulls. In the case of parchment paper, the strips upon submersion in the water for a sufilcient period to become softened are not subject to' disintegrative effect but remain strong, the paper of such strips having merely been rendered sufficiently pliable for the twisting operation. As the strips of wet softened parchment paper pass through the twistingmachine they are twisted into the cord structure shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing and assume a relatively rigid and stiff set or form, preservative of the intertwisted relation. There is no appreciable adhesive condition between the twisted strips but the cord form persists in the product by reason of the presence in stiffened and set condition of the interlocking ridges G and grooves H on the interior contacting surfaces of said strips, as shown in Fig. 3, said ridges and grooves having been given to the strips by the wet twisting. By reason of the stiffened interlocked condition of the strips in the dry cord the tendency of the strips to unfold from the cord structure or to permit the cord structure to fall apart is resisted.

In this connection it must be borne in mind that parchmentized paper, in contrast to ordinary fibrous horny substance not penetrable in the ordinary sense by water. I other hand, when, affected by moisture, tends to Ordinary paper, on the become weakened. In ordinary paper cord, however, no forces are set up within the cord by the iii) effects of moisture, which tend to cause the paper to untwist, but where cords are made of parchment paper strips the atmospheric moisture constantly introduces untwisting forces created by the hygroscopic sensitiveness of the material of which the cord is composed. It has been found, however, that when soaked parchment paper strips are twisted into cord form and dried in the cord formation, relatively stiff and hard interlocking grooves are formed in the interior of the structure which will form a sufficiently permanent interlock to resist the untwisting forces whichthe hygroscopicity of the material constantly introduces.

The final product of the process is a cord which can be made up into a variety of useful articles and when so made up requires no finishing treatment of any kind to protect it from water-or weather. It is strong, tough, wear-resisting; it can be made into articles in connection with which the ordinary fibre cord could not advantageously be used. The parchment paper cord is unusually tough and wear-resistant and is therefore available for making many products in which these qualities are desirable, as for example in making rugs or the like. In such cases the warp should preferably be so placed that the parchment paper cord takes the wear rather than as in the ordinary rag carpet method because in the latter case the filler takes up the wear and is 'worn out before the warp begins to be exposed to wear.

I claim: 1. The method of making cord which comprises parchmentizing'a vegetable fibre web and collecting the product on a roll, cutting from .said roll narrow rolls, freely suspending such narrow rolls in liquid, and then simultaneously drawing and twisting into rope form the paper'from said liquid-immersed narrow rolls.

2. The method of making cord which comprises parchmentizing a vegetable fibre web and collecting the product on a roll, cutting from said roll narrow rolls, .freely suspending such narrow rolls in liquid, passing the thus wetted strip across a smooth surface and then simultaneously drawing and twisting into rope form the paper from said liquid-immersed narrow rolls.

3. The method of making cord which comprises parchmentizing a vegetable fibre web and collecting the product on a roll, cutting from said roll narrow rolls, placing at least one of said ,narrow rolls in a solution containing coloring matter and of sufiicient density to freely support such roll, and then simultaneously drawing and twisting into rope form the paper from said liquid-inmersed narrow roll.

4. The method of making cord which comprises, immersing a roll of vegetable parchment in a liquid of suflicient density to freely support the said roll, and then simultaneously drawing and twisting into rope form the wetted strip of vegetable parchment from said liquid-immersed roll.

5. The method of making cord-which comprises, thoroughly saturating a roll of vegetable parchment paper by submersion of the paper of such roll in liquid for a suflicient period to enable said vegetable parchment to absorb as much liquid as it is able, drawing the paper out of the liquid and directly passing the thus thoroughly saturated paper strip across a smooth wiping surface, and thereupon simultaneously drawing and twisting into rope form the saturated wiped paper.

6. The method of making cord which comprises 8. The method of making cord which comprises 1 parchmentizing a vegetable fiber web and collecting the product on a roll, cutting from said roll narrow rolls, submerging the parchmentized strips. of such narrow rolls in liquid until the parchmentized fiber web of the strips is thoroughly saturated, simultaneously drawing said saturated web out of said liquid and at once twisting it into cord form and establishing on the interior contacting surfaces of the webs constituting the twisted wet cord structure, interlocking ridges and grooves and causing said wet twisted interlocked webs to become stiffened and set in the cord form whereby the interior twisted portions thereof become interlocked in stiffened condition preservative of the final dry cord structure.

9. A cord constituted of one or more twisted strips of parchmentized vegetable fibers, said parchmentized material being of a markedly hygroscopic character said strips having a horny,

relatively stiff, hydro-cellulose surface which isv resistant to destruction or disintegration bymoisture but capable 'of being rendered pliable without disintegrative effect by submersion in water, the interior twisted portions of the strips in the cord having twisted, relatively stifi, horny, ridges and grooves formed in their respective contact-' ing surfaces which are in interlocked relation and tend by reason of their stiff and interlocked condition to preserve the cord structure against untwisting forces created within the cord structure by the hygroscopic sensitiveness of the material of which the cord is composed.

10. A cord-constituted of one or more twisted strips of parchmentized vegetable fibers, said parchmentized material being of a markedly hygroscopic character said strips having a horny, relatively stiff, hydro-cellulose surface which is resistant to destruction or disintegration by moisture but capable of being rendered pliable without disintegrative effect by submersion in water,

said strips as they appear in the twisted condistiff and interlocked condition to preservethe *cord structure against untwisting forces created within the cord structure by the hygroscopic sensitiveness of the material of which the cord is composed.

ERVIN E. STRAWIN'.

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